Syrian forces intensify assault

BEIRUT: Syrian troops have killed at least 100 people, mainly in the provinces of Homs and Idlib, opposition activists say.

The International Committee of the Red Cross called for a daily two-hour ceasefire to allow delivery of aid as Syrian government forces appeared to be preparing for a ground assault on Homs on Tuesday after one of the fiercest artillery barrages on the city in days.

Smoke rises from the Syrian northwestern city of Saraqib, near Idlib, where forces blitzed opposition hubs. Photo: AFP

Syrian troops launched a fresh assault in Idlib, near the border with Turkey, targeting areas where the rebel Free Syrian Army troops are positioned, killing 44 people, activists said.

In Homs, which came under intense shelling by government forces earlier in the day, activists reported at least 56 deaths in what was described as one of the worst attacks on anti-regime protesters since February 4.

''There are also some 40 wounded in Homs, among them five children, who could not be treated because of scarce medical supplies due to the siege imposed on the region,'' Omar Homsi, an activist there, said.

''The current situation requires an immediate decision to implement a humanitarian pause in the fighting,'' Jakob Kellenberger of the Red Cross said.

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''In Homs and in other affected areas, entire families have been stuck for days in their homes, unable to step outside to get bread, other food or water, or to obtain medical care.''

On Tuesday, the opposition said about 300 shells were fired in Homs city and surrounding areas. Mr Homsi said the only makeshift medical clinic in the Baba Amr neighbourhood was hit. The Free Syrian Army foiled two attempts by government troops to storm Baba Amr.

One resident said the situation in Baba Amr was increasingly desperate, with many people lacking access to food and water.

Meanwhile, two Iranian warships believed to have delivered weapons to the regime left the Syrian coastal town of Tartus and were headed back to Iran through Egypt's Suez Canal.

Activists in Lebanon said the warships had delivered ''sophisticated weapons and tapping equipment to help the Syrian authorities trace activists and opposition figures''.

Iran's Press TV satellite broadcaster said the ships had docked in Tartus ''to provide maritime training to naval forces of Syria under an agreement signed between Tehran and Damascus a year ago''. But the Pentagon disputed the ships' presence.

A Friends of Syria conference is scheduled in Tunisia tomorrow. Representatives of the regime have not been invited.